Survival
by Sakura Sayuki Fuyama
Summary: Because she was one more reason for him to survive. How they clashed, how their hearts raced, how they were forcibly torn apart from each other. This is how Namikaze Haruno Sakura met Uchiha Shisui, the love of her life. A/N: Sort of a prequel to 'The Only Thing He didn't Have'. This is from IBTHA13 ShiSaku


A/N: This was _supposed_ to be a oneshot, but it got too long and well, yeah. This is how Shisui and Sakura's friendship started, right from scratch. Kinda of a prequel to "The Only Thing He Didn't Have" I will probably update this rather than IBTHA13, that is way too taxing to write.

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 ***Read below for more clarification after you read this story***

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Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.

-C.S. Lewis

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◆ 生存·Survival·生存 ◆

 _"Hi, I'm Uchiha Shisui!"_

 _"I'm Haruno Sakura, pleasure to meet you."_

That was what started it all.

His everything. One of his precious things to live for. It was one of the very little things that made life worth living, enduring hardships. Surviving.

They weren't friends at first, just mere acquaintances. The only solid connection they had between them when they were young was that she was his little cousin's only female companion. When Shisui had come across this bit of information, he was intrigued. After all, who could this maiden be that Itachi-chan could tolerate? He had to know -since it was his duty as Itachi's older cousin and he was simply curious- who this kuniochi was.

He heard of her, Namikaze Haruno Sakura. Adopted daughter of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina and was the heir of the massacred Haruno clan, widely known for their excellent chakra control.

But actually meeting her, that was a whole different experience he was unprepared for. The rumours didn't do her much justice, only mentioning that she was very calm and reserved and didn't talk much.

Finding an Itachi clone was something he was mentally unprepared for and did not need. She was very much like a true shinobi, as much as Itachi was. Maybe even more -how that was even humanly possible he did not understand. He heard from Genma, a chunnin he was on missions with regularly, that she frequented Training grounds 7. So he set out to find her. He was met with a small -very short if he might add- petite woman covered in dirt punching trees which resulted them in shattering into pieces with just a punch. She was wearing a dark green jacket that had sleeves that ended at her elbows with a black tank top underneath accompanied by a pair of biker shorts. Her long pink hair was tied up into a messy ponytail with her bangs framing her face.

After punching a couple more trees, she turned around, letting her gaze rest upon him, sizing him up. Shisui in return assessed her physical features. She had a heart shaped face, slanted cat like eyes, slim nose and high cheekbones, giving her an appearance of an aristocrat. She was very thin, but years of observation allowed him to see strong arms and a toned stomach under her clothing.

Sakura turned her head to look at the person that interrupted her training. She sensed him a while ago and ignored him, hoping that if she did, he would walk away. He didn't however so she acknowledged his presence. Seeing his all too familiar face accompanied by his unruly raven hair and onyx eyes let her conclude that she indeed did recognise him as Uchiha Shisui, Itachi's best friend. She had never really gotten a good look at him so she took the opportunity to do so now. He had a rather tan complexion from hours of training, slanted onyx eyes with long lashes that girls would kill for, high cheekbones with a chiseled jawline and tear throughs near his eyes from lack of sleep -though not as obvious as Itachi's. She could clearly see why girls chased after him.

His deep voice snapped her back to reality. "Hi, I'm Uchiha Shisui!" He introduced himself, even though they both knew that she recognised him. After all, who hadn't heard of 'Shunshin no Shisui'?. "I'm Haruno Sakura, pleasure." She didn't know what he wanted, and she, to be frank, wasn't interested.

He stared at her for a few minutes, grinning at her goofily, but Sakura could tell there was curiosity hidden layers underneath his smile. Why was he bothering her now? Her mind shifted, quickly scanning through her knowledge and found the best possible reason for him to be here. Itachi. Of course, Shisui was his best friend for Kami-sama's sake.

"Yes?" She replied coldly, just wanting him to go away so she could continue her training.

"So you know Itachi-chan?"

 _*Blink* *Blink*_

"Apparently from the many missions we have done together Uchiha-san," A smooth and somewhat sarcastic reply came after a moment of confusion. He was here to ask her if she knew Itachi and for that he deemed it perfectly fine to interrupt her training?

"If that is all, could you please take your leave Uchiha-san? You have interrupted my training."

"Hm, well I guess I should apologise for interrupting your training session," A thoughtful look crossed his face. "If I sparred with you, would that suffice as an apology?" Shisui replied with his signature cheeky grin.

"What." She spat while she gritted her teeth.

"Spar with me _tenshi,_ **_(1)_** or are you _afraid_ kuniochi?" He smirked at her with that arrogant Uchiha smirk but his was… different. A hint of mischief and curiosity could be seen.

'He wants to spar huh? Well, I'll make him see hell. _'That fucking bastard,_ ** _nobody_** _underestimates me!'_ Sakura immediately lunged at him like a vicious animal, baring her fangs at him.

 _'Okay, maybe this was not such a good idea… hell hath no fury like a woman scorned…"_ Shisui thought as he dodged her sudden attack with ease.

Sakura's mind was already whirling. Thinking up strategies she could use to make him accept defeat, preferably on his knees. He was fast, that was for sure. And even though her Shunshin **_(2)_** was _pretty good,_ -Oh come on! She outwitted _Itachi_ with her mastery of Shunshin!- Shisui was better.

Sakura knew for a fact that Shisui was the original heir of the Uchiha clan until Itachi had shown extraordinary talent and was perfectly capable of being the clan head. So now, Itachi was the current heir and she knew for a fact that the Uchiha would not made this abrupt decision if Itachi was not stronger that Shisui. If she could outsmart Itachi with her kekkai genkkai a couple of times, Shisui was _no problem at all._ She smirked inwardly, that bastard was going to eat his words and _boy, was she going to enjoy it._

Shisui saw a hint of a smirk cross her features and smirked himself. She was underestimating him? That wouldn't do!

They started their deadly dance, Sakura striking out like a deadly snake claiming it's prey and Shisui dodging and attacking vigorously as well with grace like a fire bird. They exchanged blows, earth shattering and being charred black around them.

Sakura frowned, -inwardly of course- he was better than she thought. His taijutsu form was perfect. Every blow aimed precisely to give him advantage for the next onslaught of attacks she gave him next. But no matter though, she was going to pull out the big guns and show him what she was made of!

Sakura threw a kunai at him, giving her some distance between them. Shisui immediately grabbed the kunai mid-air and threw it back at her. But then he felt the temperature plummet several degrees till he was visibly shivering. Gritting his teeth together, trying to stop but instead, was _failing pathetically._ Then he felt the familiar feeling of wind changing behind him slightly and just managed to dodge an oncoming kunai made out of ice. **_(3)_**

 _Wait._

 ** _What?_**

He swivelled his head to face her. There was frost creeping slowly on the ground, expanding towards him. And Sakura, she was standing comfortably with cold wind storming around her, whipping her cherry blossom hair around her tiny form. Ice with a tint of crimson -like blood he thought- on her arms, shaped like hands with sharp, _extremely_ long fingertips, made for piercing and _tearing._ Her green eyes were now an almost pastel aqua, piercing at him icily. (-Lame pun-)

 _Ok,_ ** _for sure_** _he was underestimating her. Now didn't that sound familiar._

Now that he though about it… Itachi-chan did mention something about a kekkai genkkai. But refused to tell him unfortunately. Well, he was screwed now.

Pushing back his thoughts about cursing his lovable, cousin, Shisui quickly flickered away from the frost that was coming towards him at a _freakishly fast rate._ Flying through familiar hand seals, he whispered to himself.

 _"Katon: Goka Messhitsu."_ ** _(4)_**

A massive stream of intense fiery red flames flew out of his mouth and reached out to the spot where Sakura was standing, hoping that the flames would be able to stop the ice from growing and make the training ground anything but 5 degrees.

Sakura, unfortunately, just smirked and wiped up her arm upwards across her shoulder. A streak of clear crystal water followed said appendage, extinguishing the flames when it came in contact. Now that he looked at it closely, the water she _somehow_ summoned out of _nowhere_ looked a little bit too chilly for his liking.

Immediately taking advantage of the time the Uchiha was using to observe her doujutsu, she immediately pounced on him, engaging him in a taijutsu fight. She feinted left and attacked from the right, he blocked and tried to use her weight against her and tried to pull her down to the ground but Sakura flickered away and immediately flickered above him, so that her legs were around his neck.

Shisui continued o the defensive, her taijutsu form was unknown to him but it was _flawless._ No mistake was made and if there was, it was immediately utilised to give her advantage. He saw an opening and grabbed her hand to pull her to the ground. Obviously, she wouldn't fall for it, but he would counter with a knee strike in the back or a kunai thrown behind him if she ever decided to shunshin behind him. She flickered away and Shisui immediately prepared a kunai ready for her assault but it never came. Instead of doing any of both, she flickered _on top_ of him, her ankles near his neck and she did the most _unbelievable_ taijutsu move he had ever experienced.

Sakura grinned madly, this attack _always_ worked, it was one of her favourites too. ** _And she didn't play favourites that often._** Using her ankles to lock themselves on his neck, she used an incredible display of pure arm strength to bend down and flip him over her with her legs to smash him into the earth. Earth cracked around the area Shisui 'landed'. Taking full advantage, she used the time Shisui had used to recover to aim her kunai at his throat.

Shisui blinked, had she just flipped him over? He still couldn't register what exactly happened and he had a feeling he didn't want to know. Sakura immediately pressed her kunai on his neck and muttered.

 _"Yield."_

Shisui yet again blinked. Taking this time to observe her. Tense form, hair matted and sticking to her face, and _-those eyes._ No longer were they mysterious pools of emerald, replaced by an bright icy cold greenish blue, with light mint diamonds circling themselves around her iris, like an intricate flower. Her iris was now of a deep maroon, her eyes now the very resemblance of her kekkai genkkai. Cold and stony that betrayed no emotion and something that would definitely spill blood. Looking at them could freeze you over.

He held a breath as Sakura pushed the kunai on his throat with more force, allowing a trail of blood to trickle down. He really didn't want to say those two words but she had won fair and square and he wouldn't mind losing to her if that meant he could get to know her better.

 _"I yield, tenshi."_

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 _Little did they know, those very words were the start of something akin to a miracle. The start of a blooming friendship and one of the many times hearts raced._

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A/N: This is connected to IBTHA13 and yes, Sakura has a bloodline in this story. Similar to the Hyoton (Haku's bloodline) in fact. I will be making a sequel to 'The Only Thing He Didn't Have' but this is sort of a prequel in a way. And I tried to make Sakura's temper noticeable, even though she has that quiet facade.

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 ** _(Extra Information)_**

 ** _(1)_** tenshi ( **天使** ) It means angel in both Japanese and Chinese (Though it is pronounced differently) I read Shisui using this nickname for Sakura and thought it was too cute to not use

 ** _(2)_** Shushin (Body Flicker Technique) A technique that allows the user to move to a short distance in a burst of speed. Shisui's mastery of this technique was second to none and he was given the monicker, "Shunshin no Shisui" or "Shisui of the Body Flicker)

 ** _(3)_** Sakura's bloodline in the story. It allows her to manipulate anything liquid. Meaning, water, ice or blood. (Main elements she controls)

 ** _(4)_** Katon: Goka Messhitsu (Fire Release: Great Fire Destruction) This technique is more concentrated then other techniques and is far more hotter than any other fire releases. (It is an actual jutsu in the Naruto series)

 ** _(5)_** **生存** [seizon] (Survival) It means survival in both Japanese and Chinese (Pronounced differently again) and is the title for this story, you see it just before the story starts.

*Yes, I am Chinese by the way, that's why I can interpret these words *


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